What’s the Relationship between the Ancient Bharati Lineage and the American Meditation Institute’s Physicians Conference?

By Valerie Chakedis and Jennifer Masters

It’s no secret that Eastern and Western philosophies of medicine are starkly different. Eastern medicine considers the human organism holistically, and a practitioner’s goal is to understand the root cause(s) of disease by assessing and interpreting a multitude of factors that encompass body, mind, and spirit. Most modern Western physicians, by contrast, train and specialize in a particular system of the body, and many restrict their diagnosis and treatment of symptoms to their area of expertise.

As treatment for acute illness and traumatic injuries, Western medicine has saved countless lives over the last 100+ years. This article aims to demystify the origins of the Eastern approach to treating sub-acute chronic health conditions like heart disease, anxiety, depression, autoimmune diseases, and even cancer, that adversely affect our ability to live happy, productive, meaningful lives, and that are often not resolved by standard Western modalities.

This integrated approach, supported by modern scientific validation, are practiced by a fast-growing group of Lifestyle Medicine (AMA recognized specialty) and Functional Medicine healthcare professionals. Both specialties consider the patient a partner in their own health and wellness. These practitioners make use of all appropriate therapies, and seek not just freedom from disease, but optimum health for their patients in body, mind, and spirit. This approach can be traced back to the work of an extraordinary man from India, Swami Rama of the Himalayas, a Yoga Scientist who, 50 years ago, subjected his own body and mind to the most rigorous Western scientific medical evaluations.

An Ancient Tradition Takes Modern Form

Born in northern India in 1925, Swami Rama was raised in the Himalayas and initiated as a child into the Bharati Tradition (literally, “lovers of knowledge”) by his meditation master, Bengali Baba. This unbroken lineage of teachers and disciples is the world’s oldest health and wisdom tradition, dating back over 5,000 years.

Swami Rama was an accomplished Yoga Scientist, philosopher, writer, humanitarian, and musician. He studied with spiritual leaders throughout the Himalayas. At age 13 he began teaching Hindu and Buddhist scriptures in several monasteries, and at the age of 24, Swami Rama was installed as one of the highest spiritual leaders in India, a position he renounced after three years when its demands interfered with the meditation practices he was dedicated to pursuing. He returned to the mountains and deepened his practice.

At the suggestion of his Guru, Swami Rama studied Western psychology, philosophy, medicine, and homeopathy in Germany, Holland, and in England, at Oxford University. By the mid 1960s he had established the Sadhana Mandir Ashram in Rishikesh, India. In 1969, the trajectory of his life changed dramatically when Bengali Baba instructed him to travel to Japan and then to the United States to demonstrate the profound benefits of uniting Eastern wisdom with Western medical science. His mission was to build a bridge between science and spirituality–both of which seek to find the ultimate source of peace, wellness and happiness.

Mind/Body Medicine Pioneer

When Swami Rama arrived in the United States he was invited to participate in a series of experiments at the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, Kansas. In 1970, under laboratory conditions and the direct observation of researchers, Swami Rama demonstrated his capacity to voluntarily regulate the functions of the involuntary (autonomic) nervous system of his body by controlling his mind. For instance, he raised his heart rate to 300 beats/minute for 17 seconds, maintained production of theta and delta brain waves (associated with deep sleep) while in a fully conscious state, and produced a 10-degree differential in body temperature between two adjacent points on the palm of his hand by dilating one artery and constricting another.

The shocking results of these experiments were described in the book Beyond Biofeedback by Menninger researchers, Dr. Elmer and Alyce Green, as well as in the 1974 World Book Science Annual, the 1973 Encyclopedia Britannica Yearbook of Science and the Future, and the Time-Life 1973 Nature Science Annual.

Swami Rama’s demonstrations contradicted medical theories of the relationship between body and mind. No one had ever seen anything like what he exhibited under clinically controlled conditions, and he was featured on nationally broadcast radio and television programs. In every appearance, he insisted that with training and effort, anyone could learn to use the mind to influence involuntary systems of the body, like respiratory and cardiovascular activity. He showed by example that each of us has the potential to impact our own wellness by training our minds and enlisting the power of our breath. He also stressed the importance of exercise, maintaining that good physical health was necessary in order to train the mind.

Swami Rama's work as a teacher and as a bridge between science and spirituality continued for decades in the United States and Europe. He founded the Himalayan International Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in the U.S.A. in 1971, and designed courses on how to counter the ill effects of modern living. He trained physicians and psychologists to share these teachings, and established affiliated centers throughout the world.

In 1989 Swami Rama conceived, codesigned and supervised initial construction of The Himalayan Institute Hospital Trust that now provides medical care for ten million under-served rural north Indians in the foothills of the Himalayas. Today the 750 bed hospital operates with state-of-the-art medical capabilities and his realized vision includes a fully accredited medical school and school of nursing.

For 27 years now, the American Meditation Institute for Yoga Science and Philosophy in

Averill Park, New York has faithfully followed Swami Rama’s scientific and practical approach to uniting spirituality and health.

American Disciples Forge a Modern Link to Better Health––and Better Physicians

Leonard and Jenness Perlmutter are direct disciples of Swami Rama, and are modern links to the ancient health and wisdom tradition of the Bharati Lineage. As long time students of both Eastern and Western spiritual traditions, Leonard and Jenness discovered the writings of Swami Rama in 1978. They recognized in his work a clear, practical and profound synthesis of all the various mystical literature and scriptures that had already shaped their own vision of life’s true purpose. With abundant energy, they studied Swami Rama’s books and essays, and listened attentively to his recorded lectures. They received his teachings of Yoga Science and Philosophy as the same timeless Truths already resonating at the core of their being.

Leonard and Jenness initially felt no need to meet their new teacher face to face, but as they passionately experimented with his teachings, they noted the profound impact of those experiments on every aspect of their lives, including their health. In April of 1991, after 13 years of personal practice and growth, they wrote their first letter to Swami Rama, relating to their desire to recalibrate and reduce many personal and professional relationships as a result of their practice. Although they believed their choices to be appropriate, they wanted to know if he felt such changes were “normal” and helpful for spiritual growth. They received an answer within days from Swami Rama’s personal secretary, Kamal. The reply was concise and somewhat surprising: Swami Rama wanted to meet with them as soon as possible, and to initiate them into the Bharati Lineage.

At their initial meeting, Swami Rama asked Leonard, “Are you a teacher?” “No,” Leonard replied, “I'm an art dealer.” Swami Rama’s response was swift and precise: “You are a teacher, and many people will come to you. And I will help you!” Both Leonard and Jenness understood that when Swami Rama used the personal pronoun “I,” he spoke not as an individual human being, but as a voice of the universal Light of Guru that dispels darkness.

In July 1996, four months before his passing, Swami Rama sent Leonard and Jenness a letter from India instructing them to “Start teaching now!” His mandate did not specify what, where, or how to teach––only to begin forthwith. The questions arose in their minds: “What, among all the valuable teachings they had learned, were the most important, effective and compassionate tools for enriching the lives of modern American students? What specific curriculum were they qualified and empowered to teach?”

Guided by a deep conviction that the answers would come by Grace, Leonard began documenting the philosophical wisdom and basic wellness practices that he and Jenness had established in their own lives. His writings embraced not only Swami Rama’s guidance and important practical insights from many other gifted teachers, but also drew upon the Perlmutters’ nine-year, disciplined study of the Bhagavad Gita at the Hindu Temple in Loudonville, New York. In fact, an entire universe of empowering teachings, firmly embraced and deeply explored, had preceded Swami Rama’s instruction to “Start teaching now!”

With this in mind, Leonard and Jenness established a credible and authoritative teaching institution that reflected their own American roots, and honored the women and men of the Bharati Lineage who preceded them. In August of 1996, the American Meditation Institute for Yoga Science and Philosophy (AMI) was founded. The Perlmutters conceived this new entity as a practical, modern resource for Western exploration of authentic Yoga Science as Holistic Mind/Body Medicine. One month later, Leonard and Jenness began offering comprehensive classes in AMI Meditation® to the general public.

After teaching this educational program for nine years, in 2005 AMI published the curriculum as Leonard and Jenness’ first book, The Heart and Science of Yoga. This seminal book was the winner of five “book of the year” awards and introduced AMI internationally as a resource for establishing and maintaining physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing.

In 2009, continuing to honor Swami Rama’s example of nurturing the union of Eastern philosophy and Western medical science, AMI sought and received certification from the

American Medical Association and Albany Medical College to offer Continuing Medical Education credits (CMEs) for Leonard’s “AMI Meditation®” curriculum, which he presented at the 1st annual Physicians Conference. This marked the first time a comprehensive training in Yoga Science as Holistic Mind/Body Medicine was granted AMA certification for CMEs. Such credits are an annual requirement for physicians and other healthcare providers.

Swami Rama understood the importance of establishing verified clinical evidence of the mind’s influence on so-called involuntary bodily functions. In keeping with this scientific impulse, AMI undertook a peer-reviewed clinical study, from 2017–2020, to determine the effects of AMI Meditation and its allied disciplines on symptoms of burnout and stress for healthcare providers who participated in AMI’s Physicians Conferences. Using standard controls, these volunteers maintained certain daily practices from the AMI Meditation® proprietary curriculum, regularly reporting their specific stress levels in various categories, for six months.

The results, published in the November 2022 “Lifestyle Medicine” journal, reported that participants’ baseline BURNOUT symptoms were reduced 23.3%, their SECONDARY TRAUMATIC STRESS levels were reduced 19.9%, while their COMPASSION SATISFACTION increased 11.2%.

Since the early twentieth century, Bengali Baba, Swami Rama, and now, Leonard and Jenness Perlmutter, have dedicated their lives toward the unification of Eastern philosophy and spirituality with modern Western medical science. As links in the Bharati Tradition, they have followed one timeless, guiding principle: that the mind exerts profound influence on the body, and that real wellness can only flourish when outer actions (in thought, word and deed) are united with the inner, intuitive wisdom reflected by the Conscience.

We invite you to join us in this enlightening, life-enhancing experiment by attending AMI’s 12th annual CME Physicians Conference. americanmeditation.org/cme

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